Question About Grout Line Size

This weekend I was in a restaurant that a ceramic tile floor laid with 16" tiles. The grout lines were minimal- to my calibrated eyeball they looked like about 1/16th of an inch. It occurred to me that this would be a good idea for minimizing the "dirt traps" that larger grout lines can create and for maximizing the evenness of the floor, and I liked the look.

Are there any "rules" regarding the size of a grout line? Is it a matter of design taste, or are there some real guidelines that I should consider?

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Question About Grout Line Size

What Ponch said is true, but you have to have a good quality tile to be able to set the tiles closer than 1/8" apart in the first place. Most cheaper tiles can not be installed close because they are not a consistent size and/or are rectangular instead of square. Some are a chore to install under 1/4"

The tiles you see with tight joints are almost always "rectified" tiles, not regular ones.

Jaz

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Question About Grout Line Size

Quote:

Originally Posted by JazMan

What Ponch said is true, but you have to have a good quality tile to be able to set the tiles closer than 1/8" apart in the first place. Most cheaper tiles can not be installed close because they are not a consistent size and/or are rectangular instead of square. Some are a chore to install under 1/4"

The tiles you see with tight joints are almost always "rectified" tiles, not regular ones.

Jaz

I would never have known that unless I asked on this forum. I assume that I would have to specify "rectified" tile when purchasing and that they are more expensive than standard tile? (Let me guess: the help at a "big box" home store would give me a blank stare...)

Question About Grout Line Size

You may get a blank stare. Unfortunately they are not as knowledgable as a tile store employee may be. Just make sure when they answer they are confident. I see no reason why they would not carry a rectified tile...just need to make sure. Usually a heavy glaze would be a sign of non-rectified...the glaze (if dripped over the edges) would make it out of square...it would have a clean cut on all 4 sides to be rectified...usually.